ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Finance has directed all federal ministries, divisions, and their subordinate offices to follow a federal cabinet decision on cost-cutting in an attempt to hasten the removal of contingency roles.
Only 15–16 of the more than 40 ministries and divisions have reportedly begun the procedure more than two months after the cabinet reached a decision in this area, while other ministries and divisions have responded ambivalently.
The finance ministry notified all ministries and divisions of the cabinet’s August 27 decision, which required the removal of all contingency roles, in a new memo this week. Compliance reports must be submitted in accordance with the revised guideline.
Temporary workers are neither permanent nor part of the officer cadre. Instead, they are employed for a project or a specific time with no long-term rights, making it simpler to fire them during the first right-sizing phase.
The finance ministry requests that “contingency posts” be removed as soon as possible and informs all departments of the cabinet’s decision from August 27.
The Ministry of Finance has been instructed by the cabinet to guarantee “live visibility on the cash balances of all government entities,” while the establishment division is in charge of coordinating with all federal ministries and divisions over issues pertaining to employees.
It was nearly impossible for the finance ministry to manage the financial ramifications until the ministries finished the process of eliminating posts.
Less than 2,000 roles were designated as “dying positions” and less than 5,000 posts were eliminated as of the beginning of the month.
Ministries and divisions were individually reminded a few days ago by the establishment division to make sure that cabinet decisions were followed. In a few weeks, the federal cabinet is expected to receive a compliance report from the Ministry of Finance and the establishment division.
Non-core function outsourcing
In accordance with the cabinet’s directive under the “right-sizing” policy, the establishment division also instructed all ministries and divisions last month to outsource general and non-core services including cleaning, plumbing, and gardening.
A ban on unnecessary spending was announced shortly after the cabinet’s decision on August 27. The Ministry of Finance also began collaborating with the Ministry of Law to provide a “severance package” to public sector workers who were surplus due to the restructuring of the federal ministries and their affiliated departments.
According to official documents sent to different ministries, the cabinet meeting on August 27 also decided to outsource general, non-core services like cleaning, plumbing, and gardening in order to drastically reduce grade 1–16 positions, as well as abolish or reclassify 60% of vacant regular posts, or about 150,000.
Additionally, the cabinet has resolved to change the Civil Servants Act of 1973 by adding a new meaning of “severance package” to Section 2(1h), which would entail that surplus staff would be granted cash compensation after being properly notified by the Finance Division.
“In case a division, department, or office is to be abolished, restructured, or reorganised, the decision to that effect shall be taken by the federal government after due consideration of its functional efficacy,” states Subsection 1 of Section 11-C, a new section that will be added to the act.
“The federal government shall offer, to the concerned civil servants, a severance package balancing the rights of the civil servants and obligations of the federal government,” according to Subsection 2 of this provision.
A government servant has seven days to submit a representation to a committee appointed by the prime minister under Subsection 3. Within 30 days, the committee will make a decision regarding representation. A civil servant’s employment may be terminated if they refuse to accept the severance package.
